The Tattoo The Earth tour stop at Somerset, Wisconsin's Float-Rite Park on July 28 was an eventful one, thanks to a backstage melee involving members of Slipknot, One Minute Silence, Hatebreed, and security hired for the event.

A spokesperson for Hatebreed told MTV News that the altercation, which took place next to the band's tour bus, began when Slipknot percussionist Shawn Crahan (a.k.a. #6), his drum technician, and One Minute Silence frontman Brian "Yap" Barry were allegedly accosted by security while riding around in a motorized golf cart. Hatebreed, which had been preparing to go on stage for its set, then jumped in to help out the bandmembers.

According to the Hatebreed spokesperson and several eyewitness accounts, Crahan was pulled off the cart by security while the cart was still in motion and was maced. According to some reports, Crahan was also handcuffed.

A label rep for Slipknot had no knowledge of the event, while a spokesperson

for One Minute Silence played down the incident when contacted by MTV News, attributing it to a "misunderstanding.

Security chief Lt. Pat Lais, in charge of a security detail moonlighting from a nearby prison, confirmed the events, although he insisted that Crahan threw the first punch.

According to Lais, Crahan and his cohorts had been endangering people in the area with the golf cart and the drummer refused to stop the vehicle, responding to requests to do so with obscene gestures. According to Lais, more skirmishes occurred (some involving members of the audience) as the alleged offenders, whose identities were not known by the guards at the time, were being led to the front gate.

While both sides filed police reports, no further action has been taken, Lais said.

Lais added that Slipknot considered canceling its appearance, though the band did go on to perform that evening and complied with a request not to discuss the event from the stage and

further rile the audience.

Hatebreed, however, pulled out of its performance in protest, that band's spokesperson confirmed. "Slipknot are the reason Hatebreed are on this tour," the rep told MTV News. "They were supporting their friends.

Despite rumors to the contrary, Hatebreed has not left the tour completely, as the group did appear at the next Tattoo stop in Milwaukee, albeit quietly. The spokesperson said that the band had been in trouble with local authorities over past live performance issues and had been ordered not to play in the area, and thus kept a low profile. The group wasn't on the schedule and didn't set up its equipment, but the members did sneak on stage for a short unannounced set using the previous band's gear.

In other Tattoo The Earth news, a spokesperson for Cold confirms that the band has dropped off the tour in order to join the Napster-sponsored Limp Bizkit-Cypress Hill "Back To Basics" outing. Cold, a Fred Durst discovery, is

set to release its Chris Vrenna-produced second album, "13 Ways To Bleed On Stage," on September 12.